Turning Google Keep into a powerful time management tool.

I'm going to start with a little story, but you can just skip to the next header if you want to get right to work.

For many years now I've been trying different time management/productivity methods. I kept changing because they all felt overly complicated, and indeed I spent more time organizing and auditing lists than following them. The end result was always the same: I'd end up with a list of thousands of items, which became so overwhelming I'd feel anxious looking at it.

One day I came across this LifeHacker article. I was fascinated by the concept. This method took away all the sorting and tagging and prioritizing. I bought a notepad and tried it for a while, but somehow it just didn't click. I bookmarked the page and went on.

Long story short, I tried many methods and applications until I gave up and decided settle for Google Keep. Sure, it was minimalistic to a fault, but I had given up on many projects, including trying to keep track of routine tasks, so it wasn't that bad.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon the bookmark again and a little light bulb appeared right above my head. I can make this work with Keep!

I've been testing it for only a couple days, but I want to share it with the community, hoping that your comments and feedback will help iron out any wrinkles in the system, for the benefit of all. Without further ado, here's how it works:

Setup

This article assumes you already know how to use Google Keep.

Set up a color code. I suggest green for new, yellow for recurring, orange for unfinished and red for old. You still have a few colors left. I suggest you leave those for notes that are not actionable.

Make a note for every task you've been meaning to do, and mark it as old (red). As soon as you're done, any tasks you add are new (green).

Every note should represent a goal you wish to accomplish, if there are multiple steps, use checkboxes within. For example, don't add a note for "Buy bread" and another for "Buy Milk", instead just have a single "Groceries" note.

For daily tasks, I suggest you bundle them in different routines depending on their context. For example, "Morning routine", "Bedtime routine", "Weekend chores", "Monthly progress report" and such

You may be wondering when do you get to set a task's priority. The answer is never. Instead of thinking of a task's importance, try to focus on how urgent it is. The goal is to do all the task, on time, not just the important ones,

Set up complete! Now here's what you do the first time you go through your list:

First Time

Look at your old (red) tasks. Get to work on those you feel you're ready to tackle. If it's a list, then work on it if you feel you can at least check the next one off.

• If you finished the task, and you don't have to do it again later, erase it. Feels good, doesn't it? Or maybe you can change it to a neutral color and archive it?
• If you have to do it again, set a reminder for when or where you can get back to it - not a deadline. Change it to recurring (yellow) and archive it.
• If you only checked off some boxes, change it to orange (unfinished), set a reminder for when or where you think you can get to the next item on the list, and archive it.

Tasks are archived to get them out of sight. If you can't work on it, no point in having it visible. The thing is that when a reminder goes off, the task becomes unarchived and goes back to your active list. The reminder is not a deadline alarm, it is only a reminder. When it goes off, go ahead and dismiss it, stress free. Acknowledge it, but don't go rushing to complete the task.

Continue going through your old (red) tasks until you've done the ones you feel ready to complete. Don't force yourself to do the others.

Next go to the new (green) tasks, then the recurring (yellow) ones, and then the unfinished (orange) ones.

Done! From the second time on, there is one thing you will do differently: you have to do at least one old (red) task. If you absolutely can't work on any of them, you need to clean up.

Cleaning up

If you went through all your old (red) tasks and none of them feels right, you need to know why. There's basically only two reasons you'd continuously skip a task:

• Because I'm not ready, or not in the right place. Add a few checkboxes listing what you need in order to start. Getting ready for the task now becomes part of the task. Mark as unfinished (orange), and set a reminder for when or where you think you can complete the first requirement. Archive it so it doesn't bother you in the meantime.
• Because I don't want to do it anymore. Ask yourself, is it really that important? If it is important, you should write down the reasons within the note, otherwise, delete the task! It's OK to change your mind.

Once you're done cleaning up, and there are no old tasks (red), turn all your new tasks (green) into old ones (red) and start over again. Remember, you don't have to clean up if you did at least one old (red) task.

Auditing

It shouldn't be necessary, but every once in a while, maybe once a week, I suggest you go through your notes looking for these errors:

• An archived task without a reminder
• A mislabeled (colored) task
• Too many active unfinished tasks - Be sure the next step is doable, otherwise archive until it is or add a step
• Too many recurring tasks - you may want to bundle some of them together

And there you have it! Please give a try and post your returns in the comments!

Baloons.

I remember last mother's day my mom was depressed because I never call her, and proceeded to make me feel like the worst son that ever lived.

Just wanted to share an an XYCD strip about ADD that I wish my mother had seen then.

Lazy

It is a known fact that ADHD predominantly inattentive (ADHD-PI, also known as just ADD) "patients" are mistaken as lazy; a lack of interest in tasks perceived as tedious in not the same as a general aversion to work. However, this fact is not as widely known as it should. That's where we come in.

That's right; I'm going to destroy this common misconception. To achieve this, I shall become the test subject and tell you what is going on inside my brain as I face different kinds of tasks. Here's the list in no particular order:

Work (employment)

This one is hard to explain. Even when I've worked at places I absolutely hate, getting there is never an issue. I'm thinking maybe because society has been implanting this "work or die" mantra in my brain since Kindergarten. However overall performance is greatly affected by how much I hate it, especially tardiness. I probably stall a lot in the morning, trying to do as many interesting things at home before I embark on an odyssey of boredom.

Here's a rather amusing anecdote: I've had great paying jobs but I never earned any incentives because of below-average performance (which eventually got me fired), but now that I have a rather satisfying minimum-wage job, I'm making just as much because of the massive incentives I'm raking in for being so awesome.

If your brain is rigged like mine, doing interesting work is a far better incentive than cold cash in any form (salary raise, overtime, incentive, commissions, and not getting fired).

I suspect most ADHD/ADHDPI folks are labeled as lazy when they force themselves into jobs they hate only because of unrealistic standards. School teaches you to get good grades so you can get into a good college so you can get a well-paying white-collar job. This horrible fallacy has been the undoing of mankind.

Speaking of white collar, most ADD (specially the hyperactive type) people turn out better on jobs requiring physical activities; how is that lazy?

Physical exercise, sports

I was the fat kid of the house. During my teenage years, at times, I'd decide to work out but the delayed gratification (and the pain) threw me off. I never did any actual exercise until I decided to enlist in the Army at the age of 29. It was quite a humiliating experience but once I developed enough muscle to do that one pushup, I quickly got the hang of it. However I noticed I was never able to get to the point of muscle failure, and I'd take "breaks" with complete disregard for the Drill Sergeant yelling rude things about my mother (I really drove them mad). I never graduated finished my training because of this, and eventually got discharged. I continued to exercise on my own for a while, gradually stopping.

Today I understand the benefits of physical exercise a lot better and that alone is great motivation, but I'll use things like being tired from work (desk work) or simply not having the time as excuses not to do anything.

Children with ADD should be taught the importance of physical exercise at an early age and should definitely get involved in sports. If I had any interest in sports at all I'd probably have no issues with exercising, because it'd be fun.

Household chores

First of all, I cleaned, like, last week, ok? And it's not that messy. I put that there because I like it there and then it's more accessible when I need it and I'm in a hurry. No, I don't know where the keys are.

Cleaning is incredibly boring and I only feel like doing it when it's too messy. Usually having someone else to help keep things neat helps me stay organized, but usually that someone gets tired of finding my underwear in the bathroom floor (right next to the hamper) and goes on strike. Then it all becomes a big mess again.

Having people come over is another great incentive to sweep stuff under the furniture. I can clean up the biggest messes in minutes just as long as there are no distractions.

Social situations.

I've developed a pathological fear of social situations, probably developed after years of constantly sticking my foot in my mouth whenever I opened it. I generally avoid parties and such unless it's with close friends and family.

I am very friendly but I never go out of my way to establish a connection with a stranger. I will get along great with the people that surround me on a daily basis even when we have nothing in common, but I guess I somehow think trying to be friends with someone whom I will never see again is a waste of energy.

I also noticed I never call anyone on the phone. Maybe I assume there'll be plenty to talk about when we meet face to face, or maybe I'm afraid of (tedious) small talk.

Other Tedious tasks

I generally will steer clear from anything boring and repetitive unless there is a reward that greatly compensates for the wasted time. It has to be something big and for now otherwise I figure I can live without it.

Other strenuous activity

Strenuous is not the same as tedious. I don't mind the hard work as long as it complies with the guidelines in the previous paragraph. Long walks, stairs, heavy lifting, running… It's all good as long as there's something interesting about it.

I have a general feeling most people are lazy (for example when I'm the only one that doesn't take the elevator), which is ironic because that's what everybody else thinks about me.

Conclusion

To me (and I suspect, all others with ADHD) everything is about the journey, and rarely the destination. And I'm not saying this phrase because I heard it from some philosopher and liked it. It is literally the way my brain works. I'd rather do a fun thing or free than being rewarded for something pointless.

If you have ADHD and think completely different, by all means, post a comment! We all want to know what's going on inside your brain too!

Secret Weapon

Greetings again! Just thought I’d share with you some inspiring images while I cook up my next actual blog post. Oh, it’s about 80% done.

I started reading the Scott Pilgrim comics, out of curiosity (and sheer geekyness), a couple days ago. I think they’re pretty neat but that’s not what this post is about, it’s about this one particular frame in page 113 of volume 1, where they discuss the newest member of a rival band. They refer to her as their “secret weapon” and guess what her super power is?

Yeah. So I ask you, my fellow readers – my fellow ADD-enabled superheroes – are you your own secret weapon? Watch this video before you answer!